He'll Understand
by DashaD
Summary: Lisbon had said Pike would understand, but does he really? Based on the plot description and those amazing promo shots from the upcoming season premiere, this is how I imagine the Pike/Jane/Lisbon scenes might play out.
1. Chapter 1

**Thanks to everyone who provided such encouraging and constructive feedback to my previous (and first!) story, "Before the Dawn." It was so heartening I've decided to give this writing thing another try.**

**This story is a little longer, probably a two or three-parter. Thanks for reading!**

Lisbon's phone buzzed persistently, vibrating and traveling ever so slightly across the wooden surface of her nightstand. With one smooth movement, she reached over and grabbed it, swiped her finger across the screen and held it to her ear. Cho's cool, clipped voice was on the other end.

"'Morning Lisbon. We've got a body out in Walnut Creek Park, found by a jogger about an hour ago." He paused before launching any further into his briefing, during which time Lisbon leaned over to glance at her alarm clock, read the time, and groaned softly. "APD called us in on this one. Turns out the victim's the wife of a state senator, they're thinking it might be politically motivated."

"Okay. Text me the location. I'll be there as soon as I can," Lisbon replied sleepily. Normally, this would be the point at which Cho would end the conversation by simply hanging up the phone. However, when this didn't happen, Lisbon waited. Clearly, Cho had something else to say.

"Oh, and Abbott's been trying to get ahold of Jane for the last 20 minutes and hasn't gotten an answer on his cell. So if you see him, let him know his ass is grass if he isn't on the scene within the hour." Cho paused then added (unnecessarily), "Abbott's words, not mine."

"Thanks, Cho," Lisbon grinned sheepishly to herself as the two of them hung up simultaneously. She was grateful that her longtime friend and colleague seemed to be employing a "don't ask, don't tell" approach when it came to her and Jane's new relationship status (she wouldn't have expected any differently from him). Of course he knew what was going on. Abbott knew. Hell, half the office probably knew about it. But considering the fact that it was only two weeks ago she was preparing to move across the country to live with another man, keeping things on the down low as much as possible seemed to be the way to go, at least for the time being.

Lisbon rolled over to her side, faced Jane, and lightly tapped him on his bare shoulder. He stirred slightly. "We're up- and you're in trouble," she whispered with mock seriousness in her voice.

"Now, Teresa, I don't see how either of those things could possibly be true seeing as I'm not even awake yet." A small smile crept over his face as he spoke and opened one eye playfully.

"We've got a case, a homicide. Abbott's been trying to reach you, but apparently _someone_ hasn't been answering their phone this morning."

Jane was now wide awake, and despite the early hour he was, as always, eager for a little high-spirited exchange with his favorite verbal sparring partner. "Well, that can hardly be considered my fault. My phone is in the pocket of my jacket, which if I recall correctly, _someone _practically ripped off my body the second we walked through the front door last night." As he said the words he laid his arm heavily across her body and tucked his hand underneath her, pulling her closer to him.

She didn't bother disputing his accusation and instead allowed herself to be drawn into his embrace. She smiled into his curly mop of hair (which she had recently learned was especially unruly in the mornings). He burrowed his face into the crook of her neck and made himself at home, and she let out a contented sigh. After a few moments, though, she realized that one of them had to be the grown up and make the first move out of bed. "Come on. I'll race you to the shower."

When Jane strode into the FBI office several hours later, there was an undeniable spring in his step. Despite the early wake-up call, he and Lisbon had spent another wonderful (albeit brief) morning together at her house. After a brief stop at his Airstream for a change of shirt (at Lisbon's insistence, for appearance's sake) they arrived at the crime scene where Jane made quick work of determining the basics of what had happened there.

He could immediately discern that the victim and perpetrator knew one another (it was a brutal beating, most likely a crime of passion). While interviewing the husband at the couple's home a few hours later, Jane quickly ascertained that the senator was having an affair. (Old pictures hanging around the house and a recently installed home gym indicated he had recently lost a significant amount of weight; a sure sign of infidelity if ever there was one, Jane thought.) The senator's defensive and fumbling responses to Jane's pointed questions on the subject confirmed his suspicions. Yet the man didn't strike Jane as a murderer. This meant the culprit was mostly likely a jealous lover or jilted ex.

So while Lisbon headed to the capitol building to check the husband's alibi and track down leads, Jane caught a ride back to the office with Cho. When he got off the elevator he immediately bypassed the bullpen and headed straight to the kitchen to prepare a cup of tea. As he boiled water and poured milk into his porcelain cup, he happily contemplated the rest of the day. He'd catch up on some reading while he waited for Lisbon to come back, then the two of them could hit the food trucks on Driskill Street for lunch. They could sit outside and eat tacos or falafel sandwiches, just enjoy the sunshine and each other's company. They might take a stroll along the river before heading back to the office, or maybe if he felt like pressing his luck, he'd try to convince her to play hooky for the rest of the day. (He was extremely doubtful she'd go for it, but hey, it was worth a shot.)

However, any thoughts Jane had of a carefree, leisurely afternoon came to a grinding halt when he rounded the corner and proceeded into the bullpen.

For there, sitting on his worn old leather couch casting a steely look in his direction, was Agent Marcus Pike.


	2. Chapter 2

**Thanks to everyone who provided feedback and has followed or favorited this story! I hope you enjoy what I've done here…I've switched perspectives a bit. Reviews are appreciated! **

The two men locked eyes and stared at one another. Jane, who had been strolling breezily across the room just a moment ago, was now stopped dead in his tracks, and the thin smile that had graced his lips fell slightly. He quickly regained his self-control- sipped his tea casually and continued on his way towards his couch. But Pike noted this momentary lapse of composure with a certain amount of satisfaction. The normally cool, unflappable Patrick Jane was a little rattled and definitely not happy to see him.

When Pike had arrived at the FBI office earlier that morning, he knew there was a good chance he and Jane would encounter one another at some point. But he had made the conscious choice to neither seek Jane out nor avoid him. The only person he wanted- no needed- to speak to was Teresa.

They hadn't spoken since their last phone conversation almost two weeks ago. It had been a brief, painful conversation early in the morning the day after she had called to tell him she was finally on her way to DC. Her words had been halting, her voice shaky. She kept saying how sorry she was, that as much as she cared for him, as much as she thought she could go through with it, she just couldn't marry him. She didn't love him the way he loved her, and he was a wonderful man who deserved better. She didn't actually use the dreaded phrase, "It's not you, it's me," but she may as well have. He had remained calm, tried to reassure her that they could take things slowly. She could get her own place while she settled into her new job. They didn't have to set a wedding date right away. He could be patient and give her all the time and space she needed. But she was as definitive as she was vague. She wasn't coming and that was it.

He had hung up the phone in a daze, trying to make sense of what had just happened. There must be something she's not telling me, he thought, some reason she's not giving because she's too afraid or too embarrassed to say it out loud. He knew Teresa was a private person, emotionally guarded. From what he knew about her troubled childhood and spotty relationship history, this wasn't surprising. But he was determined to talk to her again and soon. He knew he'd be returning to Austin in a few weeks to wrap up loose ends on a case. He could see her then, he decided. They would sit down face to face, and he could get to the bottom of whatever it was that was holding her back. There was still a chance to fix this, he told himself, and convince her to come.

At least that's what he _had_ believed, until a few days later, when one of his new officemates stopped by his desk to see if Pike had heard the latest scuttlebutt around the water cooler: how Dennis Abbott's pet consultant had concocted some elaborate ruse that had brought half of the Austin office down to Miami on a wild good chase; how that same consultant had then ended up in TSA custody after illegally boarding an airline flight bound for DC; and that once Abbott had secured his release, the higher-ups had decided to let the whole fiasco slide because, hey, the guy closes cases and isn't that why we hired him in the first place?

Jane. The realization hit Pike like a ton of bricks, nearly knocking the wind out of him. Teresa didn't have cold feet. She wasn't scared of commitment or of uprooting her life. This was all about Jane manipulating her and pulling her into his orbit once again.

Pike wasn't blind. Even though he knew the two of them had never been romantically involved per se, he could see that the feelings Teresa had for Jane went beyond mere friendship. She almost lost her career because of the man and his need for personal revenge. She was completely loyal to him and had stood by him and defended his bad behavior for over a decade. Pike told himself that this devotion grew out of her compassionate nature and the sympathy she felt for him because of the tragic loss of his family. Perhaps she had even fallen a little bit in love with him along the way, Pike conceded to himself. But the way he saw it, Jane was too damaged and self-involved to have anything to offer anyone. Surely Teresa must see this, too. And yet she had chosen him and decided to stay in Austin.

Now the two men stood face to face with cool, even expressions, neither one of them willing to betray any emotion to the other.

"Good to see you, Pike." Jane was the first to speak. "Nice beard."

"Thanks. Where's Teresa?" No need for pleasantries, Pike thought.

"She's out on a case." Jane paused. "So, what brings you by?"

"I'm just here finishing up some work on the McKay theft and homicide case. His trial's set to begin next month."

"Ah, yeah… we had fun on that one, didn't we?" Jane grinned to himself and then back at Pike, as if they were two old friends reminiscing about the glory days. For some reason Pike found Jane's attempt at lightening the mood maddening. The smug bastard.

"Well, it was the first time I got to see you in action. You sure know how to run quite the con, don't you, Jane? Although it sounds like you really outdid yourself with that stunt you pulled down in Miami." The edge in Pike's voice was now obvious; he was done playing nice. "Tell me something, how did Teresa feel about being on the receiving end of that particular scam of yours?"

Jane's smile vanished. "She was furious with me and rightly so," he answered plainly, his voice a little lower.

"And yet you somehow convinced her to come back here with you." Pike shook his head in frustration, his bottled-up anger finally rising to the surface. "I'm assuming the two of you are together now- well whatever _together_ can mean for someone like you, that is. It's not like you have a real life or home to offer her."

Jane's posture stiffened slightly and his face hardened. "Teresa is here because it's where she's chosen to be- not because I've tricked her or manipulated her in some way, as you seem to be implying."

"Yeah, well, I don't get it. I really don't," Pike continued, the volume of his voice rising. "Why couldn't you just let her be happy? Let her have a chance at a normal life outside of your damn shadow for once?"

As he finished speaking, Pike suddenly noticed out of the corner of his eye something (or rather _someone_) moving towards him. He and Jane both looked over to see Teresa there, standing just a few feet away from them.

"Marcus," she said gently, with warmth and pain in her eyes. "Let's go someplace and talk."

**So, Teresa's side of things, her conversation w/Pike and the conclusion are up next … let me know what you think! **


	3. Chapter 3

**Okay, so I couldn't quite wrap things up in one chapter like I planned, so there'll be another part after this. ****J****Thanks again to everyone who has liked and commented on this story! **

It took Teresa a few moments to comprehend the sight in front of her- Marcus and Jane in the middle of the bullpen, staring each other down like a couple of wolves in the wild facing off for alpha status. She would have found the surreal display somewhat comical, if it weren't for the fact that she felt utterly responsible for the whole mess that was laid out before her.

Marcus followed her to elevator when she quietly suggested the two of them go outside to talk. Before getting in, she glanced back at Jane, who was watching her leave, a calm even expression on his face. He gave her a small wave, she smiled slightly, then got into the elevator with Marcus.

They remained silent and barely made eye-contact with one another. The elevator stopped a few times to pick up passengers to Teresa's relief- anything to defuse the awkwardness and tension that hung in the air. Although, when she thought about it, her tendency to try and avoid emotional situations like this was exactly what got her into this pickle in the first place.

She remembered that wild night two weeks ago in the Keys. After watching Jane being unceremoniously dragged off the plane, it had only taken her a few moments to realize she needed to follow him. By the time she disembarked, he was nowhere to be seen. So she sat down in the deserted waiting area of the gate, taking deep breaths to calm and steady herself. She was, to use Jane's turn of phrase, a little hyped up, and she needed to pull herself together before she went to find him.

She made her way to the TSA office, flashed her FBI badge and asked to see him, but was told by a grizzled TSA agent that the suspect was in the middle of being questioned, so she wouldn't be able to see him for at least a couple of hours. She sat down on one of the worn vinyl chairs outside the holding area and closed her eyes heavily. It was well past one in the morning by now, and the adrenaline and flurry of emotions that had fueled her for the last several hours was starting to wane. She had just slouched further into the chair and started to doze off when she felt her phone buzz on her hip. It was a text from Marcus. "Are you on your way?" was all it read. She realized she had never sent him her flight info like he had asked. While he had probably just assumed she was delayed by the case, he was obviously awake and anxious to hear from her. So she decided there was no point in putting off the inevitable; she had to call him back.

Not that she had any clue as to what she was going to say. Teresa thought of herself as a strong and capable person when it came to confrontations or sticky situations. Put her in an interrogation room with some sleaze-ball murder suspect? No problem. Stand up to her superiors at work? She might waver a little on the inside, but she could pull it off. God knows she'd gotten enough practice doing that all the times she'd had to clean up after Jane's messes.

But when it came to romantic entanglements, avoidance had always been her go-to response (she and Jane had both demonstrated they were particularly proficient in this approach over the last few agonizing months), and this moment was no different. Why should she tell Marcus the unvarnished truth- that she was in love with Jane and had been this entire time- when doing so would only hurt them both?

So, she chickened out. She called him back and gave him every other reason in the book as to why she wasn't coming. The reasons she gave were true, of course, but she left out the biggest and most important one- Jane- and convinced herself that by doing so, she was simply saving herself and Marcus a lot of unnecessary heartache. Hopefully, she reasoned, her explanation would suffice and he could move on.

Clearly it hadn't been enough. Here he was: hurt, at least a little bit angry and well-clued into the fact that she and Jane were now together. (In hindsight, she thought, did she really think he _wasn't_ going to find out about them? Of course he would.)

When they reached the first floor courtyard, they still hadn't said a word to one another. They sat down on a cold stone bench and Pike leaned forward, his elbows on his knees and his hands clasped in front of him. He looked down at his feet then turned to face her as he finally spoke. "I'm not here to make things uncomfortable for you, Teresa, or try to convince you to give us another shot… Honestly, I'm just trying to understand all of this."

She inhaled deeply and forced herself to meet his gaze. "I'm so sorry, Marcus. Nothing about what I've done has been fair to you. I shouldn't have agreed to come to DC with you…or accepted your proposal… And I should have just told you the truth that morning on the phone."

"And what is the truth, exactly?" Marcus asked with a slight edge in his voice.

"That I love Jane... That I've loved him for years, even though I never thought he could really love me back." Teresa breathed and exhaled again. "But he does… and he told me so. And that's why I got off the plane."

"So, what was I?" he asked, his voice tinged with frustration and anger. "Just some diversion to tide you over until the two of you figured out what you wanted?"

"No," Teresa replied softly. "I really did believe a life with you was what I wanted, what would make me happy."

"But it never would have…because I'm not him," Marcus stated plainly, with finality in his voice.

"I'm so sorry, Marcus," Teresa repeated again after a moment. "You have no idea how sorry."

"I don't want your apologies, Teresa. I just want to know that you're gonna be happy." Despite how horribly she had treated him and how hurt he was, Teresa could tell his words were sincere. "Do you really think Jane can do that for you?"

"Yes. I do."

"Well, then I guess there really isn't anything left to say." Marcus stood up, leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on her cheek. "Goodbye, Teresa."

**I'll finish up the conclusion and post it later this week- before the big premiere on Sunday! (Woo hoo!)**


	4. Chapter 4

Teresa walked a couple of laps around the building before returning to the office to give the redness in her eyes and cheeks time to dissipate. As she entered the bullpen, her eyes immediately went to Jane's couch, which was empty save for an overturned book lying on one of its cushions. His tea cup rested on the side table, but Jane was nowhere in sight. Cho was absent as well.

"Hey, Wylie, where is everybody?" Teresa inquired casually of the young blonde, who was munching on noodles from a carton of Chinese food while staring intently at his computer screen.

"Cho got the names of the senator's staffers, along with a list of lobbyists and other politicos he's been working with recently." Wylie chewed and swallowed the food in his mouth before continuing. "He and Jane went out to go track some of them down."

Oh right, Teresa remembered, the case. With everything that had gone on in the last hour, it had been the furthest thing from her mind. Her visit to the capitol building earlier in the day had been a wash- the legislature wasn't in session so the senate offices were a virtual ghost town. Of course it made sense that he and Cho would be out working the case, she told herself. Jane wasn't avoiding her. Just doing his job, that's all. But then she thought back to the expression that had been on his face when she left with Pike earlier; how he had tried to appear at ease and nonchalant about the whole thing, when inside… well who knew how he was feeling about it.

She sank down into the swivel chair at her desk and leaned back, closing her eyes briefly. When she opened them again, a bright flash of blue color caught her eye- it was a small origami bird crafted out of turquoise paper perched on top of her keyboard. She gently picked it up and held it in her hand, smiling at the recollection of the frog Jane had made for her years ago when she had been upset. She inspected the bird more closely and could just barely make out the words he had written in tiny script on one of its wings:

Out catching bad guys with Cho. See you at home.

-U No Woo

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

When Teresa turned the corner down her street hours later, she was never so happy to see the Silver Bucket in all her life. The Airstream was parked in her driveway and its owner was sitting on the front steps of her porch. He had a small leaf in his hand, which he was amusing himself with by twisting and holding it up to the late afternoon sun. She sat down next to him, placed her bag at her feet, and greeted him with a simple, "Hey."

"Hey yourself." He smiled and gazed back at her, his eyes looking especially soft and pensive in the dusky light.

"How'd it go with Cho?"

Jane shrugged. "Meh, we solved the case. It was one of the senator's aides. Five minutes of softball questioning and the poor woman cracked, admitted to the whole thing: the affair, the messy breakup, stalking the wife, etc…" His voice trailed off.

They sat in silence for a few moments. "So… how'd it go with Marcus?"

"Alright… I told him everything, all the things I should have said weeks ago."

"Which things would that be?" Jane asked tentatively. He pretended to still be focused on the leaf between his fingers, but then gave himself away with a not-too-subtle sideways glance in her direction. She met his gaze insistently, smiled gently and took his hand.

"I told him that I love you. That you were- _are_- the reason I came back… That you're the one who will make me happy." He squeezed her hand as she spoke the last words.

"Well, that's a pretty tall order there, Teresa." He flashed his off-kilter grin at her and she nodded and laughed lightly.

She reached over to her side, grabbed the shopping bag that had been resting on the step and placed it in his lap. "Here. I got you something." His grin widened even more as he took a cube-shaped box out of the sack then shook it jokingly. "Well, it's too heavy to be socks," he laughed.

Teresa rolled her eyes a little, then watched expectantly as he opened the lid and delicately unwrapped the layers of tissue paper to reveal what was inside- a small but sturdy teal-colored cup and saucer, an exact replica of the one he'd had at the CBI. Jane admired it adoringly as he held it in his palm. He looked back at Teresa as she began to speak, his face so imbued with happiness it looked as though he might burst. "I saw it in the window of an antique shop the other day, and it reminded me of you and that old song…how does it go, 'Everything Old is New Again.'?"

Jane, still grinning like an idiot, carefully placed the cup and saucer down on the step between them. "Thank you," he exclaimed brightly as he took her face in his hands and kissed her soundly.

When they broke apart a few moments later, the smile on his face was still there. But it was now tempered by a reverent, almost solemn look in his eyes, no doubt brought on by the events of the day. "Thank you," he repeated quietly.

Teresa felt tears prick her eyes, began gathering up the discarded wrappings from the stoop, and took Jane's hand. "Come on. Let's go inside and make some tea."

**Okay, I got a little schmaltzy there at the end, but I just couldn't help myself. I am SO excited about Sunday! The reappearance of the teacup is totally from the promo shots. However, the final scene on Lisbon's front steps- I actually wrote that before those spoiler photos were released the other day. After that heartbreaking scene at the end of "Il Tavolo Bianco" I guess I wasn't the only one who wanted see Lisbon and Jane back on her front porch again. **

**Thanks for reading! **


End file.
